Farmers harvest the wheat, Yangzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, May 25, 2021. /CFP
Efforts will be injected to improve financial services for new types of agricultural business entities by Chinese financial and agricultural authorities amid the country's push for rural vitalization, and agricultural and rural modernization.
The rural inclusive financial reform experiments will be expanded, while pilot zones for financial service supporting rural vitalization will be built, according to a document jointly released by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank and five other government departments.
New types of rural business entities such as family farms and farmers' cooperatives have gradually become a vital force in ensuring farmers' income growth, the supply of agricultural products and the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural sector, it said.
To expand and diversify financial channels, social capital will be backed to promote the development of new types of rural business entities through capital injection, buying in stock, as well as talent and technical support on the premise of compliance with laws and regulations.
Meanwhile, PBOC and other related government departments will allow qualified agriculture-related enterprises to list and raise funds on such as the STAR market, or the sci-tech innovation board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, known as the "new third board".
Based on risk prevention, private banks, including internet banks, should actively provide small, fast and convenient financial products and services by using financial technology, it noted.
The document has also specified requirements on strengthening information sharing, promoting the development of credit loans and the innovation of exclusive financial products and services, as well as improving agricultural insurance service, among others.
Financial services for new types of rural businesses will be taken into account in assessing the financial institutions' service performance on rural vitalization, according to the document.
The PBOC said it will next work closely with relevant departments, local governments and the financial system to promote industrial integration in rural areas and improve the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of the agricultural sector.
(With input from Xinhua)